Players from Red Bank Catholic, Christian Brothers Academy, Rumson-Fair Haven, Old Bridge and East Brunswick have the Pirates in 2nd place.

There are four guys in Seton Hall University’s baseball lineup batting above .290 this season. Two of them played Little League together in Freehold Township.

Five pitchers have started six or more games for the Pirates this season. Two of them played for rival high schools in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

As the red-hot Hall sits in second place in the Big East heading into this weekend’s three-game home series with first-place St. John's, the local roots and longtime relationships that crisscross the roster form a cool subplot.

“We’ve known each other since we were eight years old,” Molina said. “Honestly, I never thought this would have happened growing up. But it’s kind of funny the way the world works.”

Molina took the long way to South Orange. He started at Coastal Carolina, then transferred to Brookdale Community College before committing to the Hall. Knowing Ramiz and other guys — there are eight Shore Conference alums in the program — helped smooth the way.

“He’s a great kid, a hard worker,” Ramiz said of Molina. “We expected him to come in and have success for us, and that’s exactly what he’s done.”

Mike Alescio(Photo: Seton Hall Athletics)

Another connection: Molina’s old teammate at Red Bank Catholic, senior Mike Alescio, is the Pirates’ catcher and the program’s heart and soul. The Fair Haven native is batting .297 with a team-high 28 runs scored, but his biggest contribution comes behind the plate. He’s guided the Pirates' pitching staff to steady success.

“He does a great job with the pitchers,” Molina said. “He calls a great game, controls the running game, never takes a game off.”

Layne, a 6-foot-4 righthander who graduated from Old Bridge High School, is 4-1 with a 3.57 ERA. The Cliffwood Beach native has struck out 45 while issuing just nine walks thus far. In Sunday's 3-0 win at Creighton, Layne allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out 11 over 8.1 innings.

Layne's recruitment to the Hall was interesting.

In a showcase event in Florida, he entered in relief and picked off two straight runners — one at second base, the other at first — and then got the hitter to ground out on the first pitch, ending the inning and his outing. That was all Seton Hall pitching coach Phil Cundari, who is now at Rutgers, needed to see.

“I threw one pitch and he introduced himself,” Layne said. “It was kind of funny.”

This season Layne welcomed a familiar face to the Pirates’ staff: Tyler Burnham, a freshman lefty from Old Bridge's high school rival, East Brunswick. Burnham is holding his own at 3-1 through six starts.

“I told him, the (Seton Hall) blue looks a lot better on him than (East Brunswick) green,” Layne said. “It’s awesome having him here, especially in the offseason when you’ve got a guy to work out with who lives really close.”

The veteran leader of the pitching staff is Shane McCarthy, a Rumson-Fair Haven grad who tossed the program’s first-ever perfect game in 2016. McCarthy, who grew up with Alescio in Fair Haven, is 3-4 with a 4.77 ERA and a team-high 54.2 innings pitched.

Seton Hall is 23-16-1, including 10-2 in the Big East for the program's conference start since 1989. It won’t hurt if sophomore Matt Toke, a Hunterdon Central grad who leads the club in batting average (.341), can return from a nagging hamstring injury. Either way, the Pirates have a real chance to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.

“The Big East championship — that’s a necessary goal,” Layne said. “We have no reason to doubt we can win it. We’ve become a really hard team to beat.”